“The most important event of the decade in Latvian culture”
The first of the prayers – the listening event of the album of the rapper I Mean Love (real name Ryan Schaubergs) project “Morning Sun” in the city of KK von Strick. If the name of this musician seems strange to someone (he sang at Fèis Positivus last year), it remains to be said that I Mean Love has released four albums in recent years (“The Secret”, 2017) ; “Spiritual Wellness”, 2020; “9”, 2021) and one EP (“Rozaa kraasa”, made in collaboration with Buu, successful last summer, but the most recent show is “Bataćrā diena”, which, of course, will also be included in the “Morning Sun” project schedule.
I Mean Love does not suffer from an inferiority complex – the invitation to the event at the town of KK von Strick was so great that it would be a sin not to attend. I Mean Love and Krish (Kristaps Hļevickis) are involved in the project “Rīta Saule”, and “both musicians proudly admit that the creation and delivery of the album to the ears and hearts of the audience is the most important event of the decade not only in Latvian hip-hop culture, but also in Latvian music and art culture in general”. Furthermore, “if you know I Mean Love, you probably already know that this will not be an ordinary event, but something very special and exclusive, which is definitely not recommended for any connoisseur of art and beauty!” Why not go to “the event most important of the decade, not only in Latvian hip-hop, but also in music and art culture in general”!
Album first, song titles follow
It turned out that the event is something special – an audition was held for the album, which is scheduled to be released… in a month. As Ryan himself explained, the album is about 98% ready, but after the audition, Krish and I will work on some nuances, which probably also includes coming up with names for the songs, as about half of the 16 tracks did. they still are. The two already released (and therefore better known) songs received the most acclaim, but several other pieces seemed likely to follow in their footsteps. I Mean Love himself said that this was the only reason to listen to the album – to assess how the audience responded to certain songs. Stylistically – electronic – “r’n’b” – “soul” – hip-hop.
Admittedly, the listening event was a great success, and more people came to it than sometimes to a pop or rock concert, in addition, the flower of the younger Latvian rap generation was also widely represented, starting with Wiesul, Stepa and Oda , or M. Senča (and many more seas that the reviewer did not recognize by name) to Vulture, Krissy, and even Boo. So – this format works! As for “Morning Sun”, then according to I Mean Love himself, there will be those who will like this album, there will be those who will hate it – however, from the way he expressed it, it was not like him. Really think someone might hate it…
“Caiser Beat”! A catchphrase that can be used as a password…
Practically on the same day, “the most important event of another decade, not only in Latvian hip-hop culture, but also in Latvian music and artistic culture as a whole”, reached streaming services and listen, only his authors politely called him “far. waiting” – it’s about the portal Schedule of the popular column “Kaizera beats” of the podcast “Beats and word” created by “Hiphops.lv” and EHR.fm, which collects shows live of rappers’ verses specially prepared for the podcast, or radio freestyles (radio freestyles) produced by the hitmaker Kaiser (real name Edgars Laksa) to music concerts or hits.
The popular podcast of the local hip-hop community “Beats and Words” celebrates its one-year anniversary, and the album “Kaizera Beats” released in its honor includes recordings of performances live with the members of the first and second seasons. The album is unique in that it is the first time in the history of Latvian hip-hop that radio-free format recordings were released, as well as the musical performances created by one producer – all verses were played to hits Kaiser and recorded it in the “European Hit Radio” Studio during the filming of the programs. Audio post-processing was done by Kaiser himself. 12 domestic rappers participate in the album: Wiesulis, ansis, roland če, Edavārdi, Ods, Eliots, Ozols, Zeļgis, Kjuumanis, Steps, Abra and gotcha.
130,000 views for just one hit
Previously, the “Kaizer’s Beat” segment could only be viewed in the form of a “YouTube” video. The most viewed radio freestyle of all time has become Wiesulis’ verse on Kaiser’s hit from the first season, which currently has over 130,000 views – an alarming number! So it has to be repeated, but – this format works too!
About the main character himself. Kaiser is a rapper, recording engineer and beat maker with over 15 years of experience in production and studio recording, since spring 2023 host of the Beat and Word podcast. “Finally there’s a record where I can show my versatility as a hitter – from “underground” to “new school” and “drill”!” cheering the Kaiser. “The idea for my beatmaker album came already when I focused on the production of “drill” beats during covid and created a new beat channel. Things turned around and so in 2023, the opportunity to create a podcast opened, and there was also a place for the section “Kaizer’s beat”, in which the rapper records a pre-prepared text on my live beat on the spot. The sound is, of course, further processed so that its sound is the same as other full-fledged songs. I’m glad this was done!”
Hip-hop producers dictate fashion in Latvian music
But that’s not all – along with the album “Kaizera Beats”, the audio versions of “Beats and Words” have also reached listeners in the podcast section of the streaming service “Spotify”. These programs reveal the background of the rap scene in a free and relaxed atmosphere: the producers of the podcast, Inese Grīnberga aka Dorotija (editor of “Hiphops.lv”) and Kaiser prepare questions for each program. be interesting to the rappers themselves and to the audience. The episodes feature interesting stories from the artists’ experiences outside of music (including the awkward moments they encountered on and backstage), there is also talk about the latest projects, concerts and ideas, etc. At the end of each episode, guests sing verses over a hit made by Kaiser. To date, two seasons of the podcast have been released (the first episode was released on May 3, 2023), and the recording of the third one is in progress.
Admittedly, representatives of other genres can look with a little (or a lot) envy at the activities of the leaders of the hip-hop scene, be inspired by the best examples and learn from them. Or that [iedvesmošanās un mācīšanās] doing it? Well, that’s another question…
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2024-05-12 06:00:00
#Rappers #attract #audiences #unprecedented #creative #forms
